|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Out on a Limb
Sadly, as of late, things have been more than harsh here at Hippo Haven. Fortunately the hippos are fine but our own lives have been fraught with danger, worry, stress, and many problems.As you all know, we live in a million acre wildlife conservancy here in the southeast lowveld of Zimbabwe. The Turgwe River more or less cuts the conservancy in half, running from west to east. We had the area next to us invaded by people back in October 2001 and, since those days, the poaching and human-related problems have escalated. Living only one and a half kilometers away from us is the one so-called war veteran and his men. Many people have moved into the bush and cleared it of its natural vegetation, burning the huge mopane trees and clearing acres of bushland to plant crops that do not grow as this is a drought prone area.
We have been told at all stages of this occupation that the government will remove the people. They told us that they recognize the importance of this area for wildlife related work, and since this area is drought prone it cannot sustain human beings. We've been told that with time things will improve. We have listened to this, using it as our core of hope throughout all of the hassles that have occurred in the last four years.
Now things are even more out of hand. We have spent four years trying to protect these hippos and the other animals in our area. We do this by daily patrolling the bush in our immediate area to remove the awful killing device of wire snares. The snare is a noose of wire attached to a tree that can trap any wild animal. The animal will either die from strangulation before the poacher arrives, or be killed by the poacher when he finds the animal struggling to break free from this deadly foe. On my video “A Hippo Haven” I have shown us on a patrol, finding wire snares and removing them.
Lately, these people who moved here have been coming regularly below our own property at Hippo Haven to fish. But while they fish, they put out snares or they net out entire schools of fish, thus decimating the fish population in the Turgwe. This is an offence by law. We have always asked them to go away, explaining that there are hippos and crocodiles close by so it is best not to fish in this area; it’s dangerous. They are often on our own tiny little property as well- the part that is in the Turgwe River.
On February 22nd we were at home. My husband was up in the small mountain next to our home making phone calls. Our phone land line has been cut by the poachers and the wire stolen so many times that we are now in the process of removing all five kilometers of line so they can no longer steal stretches of it to use for snares. We use a mobile phone and the only way to get e-mails and calls is to climb the little kopje to get the network.
I was in the garden when, suddenly, I see a group of African men and two uniformed policemen, about 24 people in total, walking onto our property.
Unlike most farmers and ranchers in the area, we do not have a wire security fence around our property as we prefer to leave things as natural looking as we can, so the group just walked in. They told me they had come to see my husband about a missing person. I could see that most of the group were what is called the “youth brigade” and there were a couple of so-called “war veterans” in the group who appeared to be in charge, although the police did their best to look as if they were the ones in control.I explained that Jean was up the kopje and was told to fetch him with one policeman and one war vet. I did this- as you do not argue with these kind of people! To cut a long story short, when I found Jean-Roger and brought him down to the people, they marched him off towards the river. But he told me not to worry. Having the policemen there, he seemed to think all would be fine. I waited at home with my nerves jumping, not knowing what to do. I made sure I had the conservancy hand held radio with me at all times and waited. Awhile later I hear a hell of a lot of shouting and screaming and I see the group coming back up from the riverbed. To my horror, Jean has had handcuffs put on him!
The group calls me over and the policeman asks for me to contact our nearest neighbours, a safari camp, and tell them to bring a vehicle since Jean must be taken to Mashoko Police station, about an eight hour walk from our home! Jean is allowed to speak to me, although the crowd is becoming restless and the policemen are obviously getting a bit nervous. The crowd are saying that Jean has killed somebody! Then, one man with the crowd takes off his hat and I recognize him as a man who worked for me in 1995 on the hippos' cemented pan. Soloman was a very good worker and I had actually sold him my bicycle at a very reduced rate since he had done such good work for the hippos’ pan. I ask him what is going on but the crowd is getting restless. The policeman tells me which direction they will start walking and that they have to go. Jean tells me he will be fine.
One policeman and another from the group remained behind. I had also recognized that man. He was with four other men who had threatened Jean and I verbally when they were fishing right at the hippos weir pool about a month previously. He had come right to our home, screamed at us, and been most unpleasant. I had actually videoed him and his group’s behaviour and we reported it to the local police. Now he was part of the mob that had my husband. They waited to hear me talk on the radio and tell Graham what was happening, then they too left. I managed to get Graham, the conservancy’s Conservator, on the radio and told him briefly what had happened and to please get somebody to my house immediately, with a four by four to go and find Jean.
About 40 minutes later Roger Whittall, our neighbour, drove into the yard at speed, accompanied by two of his best trackers and another white guy Peter. He told me to get in the vehicle and we would search for Jean. I explained that our only employee, Silos, was on his six days off so I could not leave the animals and house as we are not fenced and our home is not built against theft, with only mosquito gauze on the windows, etc. I knew Jean would expect me to hold down the fort, so to speak. Roger shot off in the direction the policeman had told me they were going to walk. Within about half an hour, I hear Roger on the radio telling others that he feared Jean had been abducted. Apparently, Mashoko police station did not know about the police detail and the mob coming to get him- or so they mentioned- and the mob had not gone the route that the policeman had told me they were taking. They had veered off into the bush away from any drivable dirt road. To say my heart was in my mouth for the welfare of Jean is an understatement. Within the mob, I had recognized at least four men that Jean and I had seen poaching over the last couple of years, as well as two other men that had been stealing from Roger. Basically, I think many of the group were poachers. This was all in retaliation to us patrolling the bush and removing their snares, or so I believed.
That day passed in a blur of fear and apprehension. Finally, at 4.30 pm, Roger’s sister Jane and her husband Arthur came along to offer some kind words. At that moment, the two sons-Gary and Neil-of the safari camp owner also crossed the Turgwe River, arriving with two game scouts-one armed. They left the scouts with me that night, as I knew I could not leave home. Eventually, at nearly 8 pm that night, Roger radioed me and told me he had found Jean and that now Jean was on his way to Mkwasine police station in Roger’s vehicle. He said that when Roger’s trackers finally located the area Jean had gone into and found him, he had walked over 25 kilometers. Jean is a man who perspires a lot, requiring a lot of water. He had had nothing to drink since early that morning. He had been walked in handcuffs, and fast, with one guy heckling him from behind, while the others walked at a more leisurely speed. One policeman had stayed with Jean the whole time, keeping up with the fast pace as he obviously wanted to be with Jean, which again was highly commendable.
It had been a very hot day, in the forties, and very humid. The mob stopped at every village made by these people on the Angus property, calling out “We have the murderer!” Crowds of people would then be stirred up and kept screaming at Jean, being verbally abusive. These people were from the areas on Angus that have been taken over. A lot of them have been poaching near our home in the past.
Jean explained to me later that, when they were all near our home earlier that day, Solomon had taken the mob, Jean, and the policemen down to the hippos’ bush island. About 10 of them had gone into it. The bush there is so thick that neither Jean nor I have ever gone in there. It is just too dangerous. 19 hippos use it to sleep in and they have 6 babies. The island is all lantana and a mixture of combretum, with a sprinkling of riverine trees, but mainly thick tangled vegetation with tunnels that the hippos have made moving in and out of the vegetation.
Jean and the two policemen waited outside the bush for about five minutes or so then the men had shouted at them to come in and look. After maneuvering through the bush and the tunnel they came into a small clearing, which was obviously used by the hippos. Fresh tracks, stools, and signs of some hippos having been there that very morning were visible. The men had a sack, had already put some items of clothing in it, and were removing other bits of clothing on the ground and putting it into the sack. They showed what looked like blood on a low bush and said that this all belonged to the missing person. They were accusing Jean of having killed him! He had gone missing over one week before that.
When Roger found Jean, he was exhausted but still walking and had another four hours to get to the station. The women had joined the mob and were being even more verbally aggressive than the men. Roger picked up Jean, the policeman, and about 5 of the mob members who got in the back of the vehicle. Jean was taken at first to Mashoko, but they did not want him to stay there and they asked Roger to take Jean to the Mkwasine police station closer to our home (about a two hour drive from there) via Humani Ranch where Roger lives.
He managed to stop for a short period at the home of Roger and Anne and Anne managed to get him to take some salt tablets, eat a sandwich, and drink about four liters of liquid. Then he was off to the station. I was totally unaware that this had occurred, so spent a very restless night worrying about Jean, not knowing what was happening at all. Jean was taken to the police and at 8.30 pm they finally took off his handcuffs. He was told he could spend the night with Graham and come back the following morning as all wanted to go to the hippos island by our home. The next morning I was at Humani very early and eventually managed to hear what had happened. Jean came back with the police by late morning. Then we all drove back to our home.
Jean, the police, Roger and his two best trackers, Champion-the conservancy security officer, and Solomon-the guy who has the missing relative, all went back to the island. I was told to stay at home. Roger’s trackers found the tracks of a crocodile having dragged something into the river, which is about 75 ft away from the thickets, but there was no sign of a body. Roger’s trackers reckoned the man had literally bumped into one or more hippos and in that confined space they had attacked and probably killed him. Later the crocodiles had smelled the body and taken him off to the river where they would have eaten him. The weird thing were the bits of clothing and I am not one hundred percent sure that there is even a body. The family of that man and himself are all Mozambicans and this could be a set-up from the start.
Jean had been alerted by Silos the week before to two men walking in the river when Jean and Silos were leaving the house to go and do some bush clearing on the road. Jean had gone down to the rocky part to warn the men about the hippos but they had disappeared. He saw their tracks going into the island. This was the fourth time we had seen either tracks or people in the island. Twice, men had gone through it to the rivers’ edge to fish. At one time, the man who was in the mob had been part of a group that used the island. Jean found two fishing rods near the bushes and brought them home. He heard the hippos making a lot of noise but later he and Silos walked back along the river and found two sets of human tracks upstream. Silos had told Jean that that must have been the two fishermen; they had gotten out of the island in that part of the river. Now Jean was being accused of murdering that man! Eventually, after checking it all out, the police took Jean away again to make statements. We had to call a lawyer and, at 9 pm that night, Jean came home. He had not been charged but was told to wait to hear from the police.
In the meantime, the lawyer- a black man, along with Roger and others in this conservancy, suggested to Jean and I that we move out of our home for a couple of weeks in case the mob came back. In four years we have not gone away for longer than two nights. We were told that it would be best and it would also not involve others if the mob came again. We did as we were told and for two weeks we stayed either locally or went up to the capital Harare, taking my one old blind, deaf pussycat and my tortoise. These people eat tortoises! These days our home only has one road out of here to join the other roads in this conservancy. There are people all along that road who have taken over the land, burnt all the trees, cleared land for crops that do not grow, and continue to be caught as poachers by game scouts, or are seen by us running away from snares, etc. We are watched 24 hours a day if we leave here.
We came back for two nights within those two weeks and it was all so worrying and harsh, but it was quiet. Silos and the two game scouts were at home. The scouts had found a total of 12 snares in the immediate area so they were at least doing our work while we were gone. Neil and Gary have kindly told us to keep their two scouts here indefinitely, until the problems have gone. Three days after returning, Jean had to go to the criminal investigation police in Chiredzi. He was interrogated for two and a half hours in the morning, and two and half hours in the afternoon. They accused him of murder! Then they released him, telling him to come back in a week to possibly be presented with allegations. We went off for one day to a town called Masvingo, trying to sort out official paperwork for my passport. On arriving home, Silos informed us that a mob of 31 people with the chief so-called war veteran Sgt. Door, alias Mr Goni, had been at our home and that Jean and I must go right now as they were possibly still around. As he said this, in walked the mob and no police
It was nearly dusk and the leader was a true war veteran- in his personality and in being the right age. He was polite in a way, intelligent, and very much in charge of the group. Many were the same guys who had previously walked Jean through the bush and villages. From the minute he started talking, one could see he was a very powerful man, but one who had been told a lot of lies and, whether he knew them to be lies or not, he wanted us gone.
He basically said he was evicting Jean and if he did not leave then Jean would be out walking in the bush one day and just disappear, like the other man had disappeared. It was obvious what he meant. At some stage he allowed me to speak, which is unusual amongst black men in Africa. But he was polite enough to let me talk for about forty minutes. I had, in the meantime, managed to sneak one of the game scouts out the front and told him to run like hell to the safari camp to tell them we had a big problem. All day he, the other scout, and Silos had been told they could not leave, or else!Silos had noticed that our one big generator battery had been stolen, as it was outside the house, along with some items of clothing, a poncho, and tools. He had been brave enough to tell Sgt. Door about this, but they had not found out who pinched it all. The youth brigade had told Silos they were going to help themselves to our house goods, then burn the house. They were also going to eat my goats, starting with Shadow, the male, who is the biggest. Lots of threats had been uttered during that day. Silos said that when they arrived that morning they had entered our home in an army type maneuver, surrounding it from all sides, coming in small groups, a few of them carrying the wooden beating sticks.
Eventually Sgt. Door told us he was now going to spend the night with all 30 odd people and that we must feed them all and put them up in the little spare house the game scouts were living in. We had no choice. I only had a little food since we are on a very tight budget and hence do not keep much supplies. Also I do not eat meat and Jean does not like me to cook it for him, so we never have meat at home. They wanted meat, of course! I managed to radio Roger again and he told me he would be coming with all the others, and to keep bright.
Two hours later, Roger drove in- accompanied again by Peter, along with Roger, his nephew, and two or three more trackers, plus Neil and Gary in another vehicle outside the house. In the dark, introductions were made, accusations laid. Sgt Door told Roger he wanted all whites in the conservancy here tomorrow for a big meeting, and to tell the police to come. Basically he wanted meat and talks. Roger eventually told me that I would be perfectly safe with the man, as he had met him. I also looked at Sgt Door and told him that I believed we would be safe. At that stage he had several of his brigade guys with him while talking to Roger. Roger then smiled at me, came in the house to have a quick word with Jean, then left us. We felt tremendously alone, yet we totally understood what Roger was doing. He was now a witness, so we should be ok.
That night was pretty sleepless. They had three of their hunting dogs with them which they constantly hit if they did anything wrong at all. So with the group the noise level was quite high at times! The next morning, several of them made a point of going past us with nets and rods to fish, and of course we could not say anything at all. Eventually Roger made a radio call telling us that the police told the conservancy members to not go to any meeting, that they would handle the situation. We were very apprehensive, as now it was a waiting game. As the morning progressed, the mob was getting restless, wanting food we did not have. Finally, at about 10 am, two policemen and Champion arrived, then talked with the people for the next couple of hours.
Thank God Roger arrived, yet again bringing meat and mealie meal. He is a very brave man. About 30 people in a mob beat his own brother up a couple of years ago. They were actually after Roger, who has received death threats for the last few years. Roger, however, has something we do not have: money, power, and a big back up set-up. His family employs about three hundred people and they and their extended families all live with them. Plus there are six white families over there, about 44 game scouts, hence more witnesses, etc.
The police then came for statements about the missing items, saying they could not charge the people for coming into our home, taking our food, etc. as they had not hurt us. But for the theft they could charge. In the meantime, Sgt. Door told his youth brigades to find the missing items. Suddenly, two men brought them back from where they had hidden them in the bush. The police advised us to drop charges as the goods were returned. They had cut the string in our borehole and there was the added worry that the pump had dropped in the hole and would be damaged, but the police suggested we just let it go. Fortunately Jean had built a back up device in the borehole in case the rope broke, so we still can get water for the hippo pans and us.
Sgt. Door called for Jean and told him that they decided they would be coming back the next week with about 90 people for a spirit meeting. To do this they required a lot of food, meat, etc and we would supply it. The police advised Jean to do this. Later, his lawyer told him off, saying that the people could have used this food and said Jean had poisoned them. But by then we had given them food and there was nothing we could do.
Two or so hours later they all left. The police stayed with us until all had gone and then it was over. We were advised by police and by others to not be at home for the meeting. The lawyer told us that on no account should we be there. I told Jean I could not possibly leave my pet goats and animals while 90-odd people were going to be right by our home, possibly in an aggressive mood. I had found 13 of the hippos the next day, back in their old pool at the Owl Tree. They were all nervous but thank God fine, and I am sure that the others were upstream with the younger bull. The following Tuesday at 4 am we loaded all seven of my goats in both the Land Rover and pickup, and took the five cats. Peach, my half-wild cat, had gone off, which he does regularly. We took the tortoise, and off we went to Humani.
We stayed, thanks to the Whittall family, in a house not used which had been broken into. There was no garden, so the goats could run free around the house. At night we all slept on the verandah, since the goats were so afraid and needed our company. At home they have little houses to sleep in because of leopards attacking them, so they were very afraid. I spent most of the nights reassuring them that all was fine! I would take them for walks around Humani each day just like dogs, in search of grazing. Some of them are 12 years old, which is pretty old for an African goat.
The cats were locked in the only lockable room- the kitchen. My blind and deaf cat stayed with me most of the day and night, as she needs constant reassurance. It was all so worrying, wondering what was happening at home, which was only 16kms up the road. But we knew we had to stay put until we heard from the police. Jane, who was extremely kind, fed us on most of the days. In the meantime, Jean had to go once more to the criminal police department who made allegations of murder towards him. He and his lawyer had to make an official statement. Then they told Jean he could go home. Jean contacted the French Embassy who has, to our knowledge, gotten hold of the correct government bodies to explain what has happened to one of their citizens.Later that evening the member in charge from Mkwasine Police Station came to us and told Jean many things regarding the meeting. What he told us was not what Champion and the two game scouts told us. He said there were hundreds of people there. This was untrue: there were only about 66 people. He told us a lot of other things, which did not tally! Basically, Champion and some of the others told us to go home, as all would be fine. So on Sunday 20th March, we finally came back to Hippo Haven. Peach took a week to come home, but Silos had fed him twice while we were gone. I have now seen 17 of the 19 hippos, just have not seen Cheeky and her new baby Relief. Inititally, the hippos were very upset when we returned. Blackface was very angry, which is typical with her. They have calmed down a lot in the last few days but I have to be very careful with them, as they are nervous and obviously these people have been harassing them. Around 65 people making a lot of noise must have frightened them quite a lot.
Poaching has really stepped up. The game scouts have arrested two people in the last two weeks. We've found a total of 44 snares in our immediate area; sadly one had a dead female waterbuck in it. The poachers had not even collected the body. Jean and I then found 7 other snares, 5 of which were from our telephone line. Yesterday the scouts found another eight telephone wire snares. The safari camp game scouts caught one of three poachers who had telephone wire snares. That line belongs to the government and supposedly poachers found with that kind of wire are put straight in jail!
On the 31st March it is election time and the future is one big question mark. Two fishermen who the scouts caught yesterday, one of them being from the group who spent the night at our house, told the scouts that they are going to sort us out after the elections. They said the mob will come back then! They were fishing near to the hippos where the police told them not to come back.
I had a health scare before all of this and it has flared up a bit again, but God willing it will calm down when we are allowed to take a breather. Jean and I have lost weight and the stress level as of late has been pretty unbelievable for us. I've kept a nucleus of foster parents and people who know me informed about this mess. I thank everyone who has replied with either words of kindness and support or with prayers or positive vibes. I manage to keep my sanity when you guys out there respond in such a lovely way. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I am sorry that this newsletter is about us and people, not the wonderful animals that we are trying to look after to the best of our ability.
If the hippos did kill somebody, it was not a deliberate act. They were obviously cornered and that person was in their territory, so they were just protecting their own. What will come out of all of this is anyone’s guess. We love Africa, we love its nature and its wildness. We were both born Europeans but have adopted this land to give it something back, to help the animals. We only wish to live our lives without this awful pressure.
The conservancy members tell us that after elections things will be better. They tell us that this land will be only for wildlife and that the future is for the animals. We have to believe that this will come true.
I thank you all for supporting these hippos. Please do not walk away from them now because of our present situation. They need your help now more than ever before.
Karen Paolillo, Hippo Haven, Save Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe. 27.3.2005
The photos below are of Karen's seven goats and her cat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|